Monday, September 1, 2014

3 Secrets for Setting Goals and Reaching Them!

"This Lifetime will never come again; it is precious and irreplaceable. To live without regret, it is crucial for us to have a concrete purpose and continually set goals and challenges for ourselves. It is equally important that we keep moving toward specific targets steadily and tenaciously, one step at a time." Daisaku Ikeda, For Today and Tomorrow, page 55. We all know we need to make lists and write down our targets and goals, don't we? We've seen the studies that report that college graduates with clear goals achieve more success than others who don't have written goals. But still, somehow it is difficult to write them out and make them. Why is Setting Goals difficult? 1. Many of us have set goals and failed to reach them. Ugh. For more years than I could count I set a goal to lose x amount of weight by my birthday. Raise your hands if you've ever done the same. And we've seen those targets breeze by...losing faith in ourselves. These failures mean nothing. We should make goals anyway. Read on. 2. Sometimes it's hard for us to decide what our goals ARE. Maybe this does not describe you. Maybe YOU can set clear goals and targets and achieve them every time. Well, for the rest of us it is more difficult. For whatever reason, sometimes I just have the hardest time deciding. So I chant about making the correct decision and bringing wisdom forth from my life. 3. We're afraid we won't reach our goals. That's a version of number 1 above. Or...maybe we're afraid we WILL reach them, and regret the outcome. So as I am making my list of goals I am remembering what some of my favorite mentors have to say about goal setting. 3 Secrets For Setting Goals and Reaching Them! By Jamie Lee Silver from Chantforhappiness.com, based on the teachings of Tony Robbins.

1. For every goal you have be clear on WHY you want to achieve that goal.Write your goal...and write WHY you want to achieve it. As a Votary of the Lotus Sutra all of my goals include the vow to show actual proof through my own life that the impossible is possible. Years ago before I lost about 50 pounds I wrote down all of the reasons I wanted to be thinner. I still have that list and have referred to it over and over through the years. 2. Make yourself an inspiring name for this goal. I have a dear friend who just embarked upon a fitness regime with a trainer. After a few days she was feeling discouraged, and I suggested she come up with a name for herself for this endeavor. She exclaimed "Fitgirl!" and has told me over and over how calling herself "Fitgirl" gets her out of bed and to her workout every day. What name can you come up with for yourself to invigorate (great word - meaning "give life to") your goals?3. Schedule it. Right now I am determined to finish my book for you by my birthday. So I am working at least 2 hours a day on it. It's the hardest thing I've ever done...but also so satisfying. And i can't wait to get started on the next one. So here we are, September 1st. Be bold. Be Brave. Make your list. If I can do it...so can you! Go Buddha Go!

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Chant with Jamie!

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Welcome!

This blog is about Happiness.

Absolute Happiness.

Unshakable Happiness.

Welcome!

In my 33 years of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (I fuse my life with the Mystic Law of cause and effect through sound vibration) I have faced and overcome many challenges. Heartbreak, job challenges, divorce, and in 2015 my 22 year old son took his life after battling schizophrenia for three years. And through it all, I chanted to turn poison into medicine and to be happy - so that I could show others the way to happiness.

These blog posts come from my heart, to show the power of this practice. I speak only for myself, and don't represent anyone but me. I write this for you.

Feel free to email me if you'd like ~ but I do not give Buddhist guidance by email. I suggest that you get to know your local SGI Buddhist leaders who will give you support.

I love to hear your success stories and may publish them along with your picture.

This lifetime is so precious - and the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is unique. The first person to chant these words was Nichiren Daishonin, a Buddhist reformer. You can find out more about him, and more about this practice at SGI-USA.org.

The important point is this:

We don't have to suffer painful austerities or be reborn for many lifetimes to bring forth our own Buddhahood and attain absolute unshakable happiness.We can attain it right here...right now...just as we are.

There's no accident that you are reading this blog at this time.

We are all Buddhas, and I am delighted to be sharing this journey with you.

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